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Prayerlessness

July 28, 2012

In her book A Place of Quiet Rest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss includes several chapters on prayer. In a chapter titled “The Privilege of Prayer” she discusses a period of prayerlessness in her life and her growing conviction that she had to get to the root of it. “As God opened my eyes to this matter of prayerlessness, I asked Him to let me see it from His point of view. Here is what I wrote in my journal one day when God first began to deal with my heart.” She does not attempt to provide a doctrine of prayer or prayerlessness as much as a reflection on what prayerlessness means in her own life. I found it very helpful.

Here is what she says:

I am convicted that prayerlessness …

is a sin against God (1 Samuel 12:23).

is direct disobedience to the command of Christ (“watch and pray,” Matthew 26:41).

is direct disobedience to the Word of God (“pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

makes me vulnerable to temptation (“watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation,” Matthew 26:41).

expresses independence—no need for God.

gives place to the Enemy and makes me vulnerable to his schemes (Ephesians 6:10-20; Daniel 10).

results in powerlessness.

limts (and defines) my relationship with God.

hinders me from knowing His will, His priorities, His direction.

forces me to operate in the realm of the natural (what I can do) versus the supernatural (what He can do).

leaves me weak, harried, and hassled.

is rooted in pride, self-sufficiency, laziness, and lack of discipline.

About Tim Challies

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, and am a co-founder of Cruciform Press.